Commencements

kc90

If there's any graduates still around, is a black suit and tie formal enough for a BA graduation, or are they quite strict on the full evening wear?
What do most people go for? I don't really want to stick out if everyone's gone all out.

Yeah sounds grand, that's what I wore to my ones. I don't think they really care, unless its a suit from Dumb and Dumber.

234

As somebody who has worked at nearly all of the commencements for the last two years I can say that 95% of men will be in full black tie.

However, the gown covers most of what you are wearing so if you have a black suit and a black bow tie nobody would notice or care.

If it's a normal black tie (ie long, not bow) then you would definitely stick out.

Ravelleman

Black suit will do. A number of people who graduated with me wore suits of different, albeit discreet, colours, though I did think that they stood out somewhat. Wearing a bow tie is also advisable - surely you could find one, even a clip-on.

languagenerd

Any female graduates around to offer advice on dress-code? The info pack only says "Women must wear black or white or a combination of black and white" but I assume there are more rules and you can't show up in black jeans and a white hoodie or a black tracksuit :pac:

Any guidelines for what type of dress?

Abby19

languagenerd wrote: »

Any female graduates around to offer advice on dress-code? The info pack only says "Women must wear black or white or a combination of black and white" but I assume there are more rules and you can't show up in black jeans and a white hoodie or a black tracksuit :pac:

Any guidelines for what type of dress?

The guys are wearing black tie ...
From what I have seen generally smart day/cocktail dresses.
If you have mates from the year before can you ask them or check out photos they may have posted on Facebook?

languagenerd

Abby19 wrote: »

The guys are wearing black tie ...
From what I have seen generally smart day/cocktail dresses.
If you have mates from the year before can you ask them or check out photos they may have posted on Facebook?

I know, I was joking about the tracksuit - but it is hard to tell what exactly is expected. Guys wear black tie to the Trinity Ball too but I imagine a ball-dress is OTT for graduation... The only TCD grads I know are guys, but maybe they'll have pics with their female friends...

Abby19

Google 'Trinity Commencements', and select Images - and you can try a couple of different years. They are wearing gowns, but you might get an idea.

gutenberg

languagenerd wrote: »

I know, I was joking about the tracksuit - but it is hard to tell what exactly is expected. Guys wear black tie to the Trinity Ball too but I imagine a ball-dress is OTT for graduation... The only TCD grads I know are guys, but maybe they'll have pics with their female friends...

Most of my friends wore knee-length dresses, mostly in black but some had black & white stripes, polka dots, etc. Then a few were in black trousers & blouses. Since it was November, black cardigans/jackets were also very much in evidence! Also smart shoes - heels were most common, or smart flats.

A cocktail or smart day dress would be fine, or formal trousers & blouse. The gown does cover a lot, so you only see a bit of the front of whatever you are wearing. In terms of patterns etc there doesn't seem to be any restriction, provided it's in black/white - as I said, some of my friends were in polka dots, so you can make it fun.

Jumbotron

Dark lounge suit, black shoes and white bow tie. Anyone seen in evening wear before 6pm should be lined up and shot.

Watch out for the QUB gowns doing the rounds that the outfitters try to pass off as DU ones.

234

Jumbotron wrote: »

Dark lounge suit, black shoes and white bow tie. Anyone seen in evening wear before 6pm should be lined up and shot.

Watch out for the QUB gowns doing the rounds that the outfitters try to pass off as DU ones.

Yes that is what sub fusc consists of in many of the older UK universities, and yes black tie should only ever be worn in the evening, but black tie is what the calendar calls for and it would ruin the collective appearance of commencements is the men started adopting the dress of other universities.

Jumbotron

234 wrote: »

Yes that is what sub fusc consists of in many of the older UK universities, and yes black tie should only ever be worn in the evening, but black tie is what the calendar calls for and it would ruin the collective appearance of commencements is the men started adopting the dress of other universities.

What makes you think that the calendar is correct?

234

Jumbotron wrote: »

What makes you think that the calendar is correct?

Because the Calendar has a quasi-legislative statue within the college and since the statutes are silent on the issue by what standard can you judge the calendar to be incorrect?

The calendar is "the rules" and obviously have presumptive validity; what higher rule can you point to to invalidate them?

Jumbotron

234 wrote: »

Because the Calendar has a quasi-legislative statue within the college and since the statutes are silent on the issue by what standard can you judge the calendar to be incorrect?

The calendar is "the rules" and obviously have presumptive validity; what higher rule can you point to to invalidate them?

The calendar is a hodge-podge mess. It comes across as a chore that must be published every year and is full of half-truths and inaccuracies that are symptomatic of ignorant, uneducated people who have no appreciation for what has gone before them. I'd always consult a calendar from before Trinity became a HETAC degree mill and was an independent institution (intellectually and financially), before referencing one of the Arial font variety.

234

Still doesn't change the fact that the calendar sets out most of the rules governing college life.

As much as you may like to revel in what you perceive to be Trinity's glory days, now sadly past, it doesn't mean that your opinion carries the same weight as the contemporary regulations.

Are we loosing some of Trinity's past traditions? Yes. Will wishful thinking make them come back? No.

sunbeam

Actually the calendar states that a black or white bow tie should be worn.

234

Yes, but only in the context of a dinner jacket or full white tie. There is no option to just wear a lounge suit.

Kwekubo

Jumbotron wrote: »

Watch out for the QUB gowns doing the rounds that the outfitters try to pass off as DU ones.

You'll be glad to hear that this is no longer an issue. The robemakers started providing the correct hoods again last autumn.

Jumbotron

234 wrote: »

Yes, but only in the context of a dinner jacket or full white tie. There is no option to just wear a lounge suit.

The only gentlemen I know who'd be seen wearing evening dress at nine in the morning is when they're on the way home, not on the way out.

A Neurotic

Jumbotron wrote: »

The only gentlemen I know who'd be seen wearing evening dress at nine in the morning is when they're on the way home, not on the way out.

You care deeply about silly things.